Category: Property Disputes

Most residential real estate purchase agreements in Minnesota offer the buyer and seller the option of agreeing to real estate arbitration, rather than a trial in court, as a way of resolving disputes. As with all choices in life, there are positives and negatives to selecting arbitration. This article discusses how a buyer should think…

Most people come to own real estate the old fashion way: They buy the property from the owner. In exchange, they usually receive a deed conveying title to the property. But, a conveyance is not the only way to acquire real property. People also come to own real property by possessing the property for a…

Practical location is a legal doctrine that can be used to establish a new location of a property boundary. The doctrine may be used to establish a boundary line where none can be located or agreed upon. More commonly, however, the doctrine is used to change a boundary line from what is reflected on a…

Minnesota law requires that all sellers of residential property disclose to prospective buyers all “material facts” that could affect a buyer’s use and enjoyment of the property. Minnesota law also requires that real estate salespeople disclose to buyers material information that they may know about the property. The failure to make these required disclosures can…

Sometimes clients prefer to handle real estate transactions on the cheap. They get a legal description, and want you to just copy it. No need for a survey. If a client insists on that course, its best to make them aware of the potentially catastrophic consequences

I usually focus my posts on Minnesota real estate disputes, but I’ll make an exception if I sense a budding national trend. The trend in this case is that, more and more, title insurers are denying lender’s claims on the basis of the lender’s unwillingness to provide underwriting information to the insurer. In a case…

Update (Jan. 27, 2012): On November 22, 2011, the Minnesota Supreme Court denied Naomi Farr’s petition for review. Looks like, for better or worse, this one is on the books. Original Post (Sep. 22, 2011): In a new published decision, Dimke v. Farr, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has called into question the effectiveness of the statutory…

Oral promises are, by their nature, fleeting and unreliable. This is apparently even more true when the promise is about manure. In Maday v. Grathwohl, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that a written “Manure Easement” superseded a prior oral promise to deliver all manure to a neighboring farm. As a result, the neighboring farm that…

When it rains, it pours. And, when your neighbor’s field dike doesn’t work properly, it floods your farm. In a new decision, the Eighth Circuit addressed this important question: How long can I wait to sue my neighbor for flooding my property? The Answer: 2 years.

In a June 13, 2011 published decision, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held (again) that a district court has discretion to grant or deny a motion to stay an eviction. The decision in Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. v. Nedashkovskiy did lower courts no favors. The Court of Appeals has yet again failed to clearly articulate…

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Bio

Rob Shainess is a trial lawyer with a particular focus on resolving real estate, construction, and business disputes. Rob’s clients range from individual property owners to national banks, and everyone in between